Prologue

Drake System, Skyllian Vergfe, Edge of Alliance space, 25th May 2190

The SSV Tewkesbury dropped out of FTL and decelerated to cruising speed. The Agincourt class vessel was on a routine patrol, acting both as a show of force and as a rapid response force to aid any human colonies in the immediate area which came under attack.

Commander Adam Davies stood in the pulpit of the CIC where he was overseeing the deceleration. "Take us into orbit around the pressure cooker Lisa." He addressed the helmsman seated at the console several feet in front of him.

"Roger that sir." she replied, engaging the ship's thrusters.

The commander stepped down from his podium and retreated towards the stern where his quarters were situated. That was the moment of impact.

"We're under attack!" Lisa roared, "Kinetic barriers are offline, hull breach in the upper deck, venting atmosphere!"

"Get it sealed off!" Davies replied and activated the intercom: "All hands to battle stations!"

It was a command that proved to be unnecessary, the ship was already consumed in a flurry of action with crewmen manning their assorted stations.

"Someone alert Elysium, the Admiral needs to know what's happening." Davies said.

"Comms are down sir, they're jamming us." Lisa informed him.

"Can we get an IFF on that ship?" the Commander inquired.

"Negative, unknown classification!" The Navigator, one Lieutenant Klaus Smith responded, "It's nothing I've ever seen before"

Adam glared at the screen depicting their assailant. It was a large vessel, between cruiser and dreadnought size.

"Lisa, we need to get back into FTL!"

"Roger that sir, awaiting co-ordinates."

"We don't have time for that Commander!" Klaus pointed back to the screen where their enemy was moving. Fast.

"Their thruster burn is going to bring them on an intercept course, they're going to try to get behind us and smash up the engines!"

"Lisa, take evasive action, fire control get some guns on that ship, Smith why aren't you calculating FTL co-ordinates?"

The crew sprung into action, as Lisa manoeuvred the bow of the ship to bring the main gun into play, the gunnery officer's fingers danced over the haptic interface in front of her, the console beeped thrice in rapid succession and the gunnery officer slammed the fire button.

The mass accelerator shifted a twenty kilogram ferrous slug to approximately a sixth of the speed of light, impacting with the equivalent force of 18 kilotons of TNT, and had absolutely no effect on the incoming ship which simply shrugged off the attack as though they'd thrown a small pebble.

Without warning, the enemy ship banked sharply towards the Tewkesbury and unleashed a salvo of torpedoes.

Lisa through the ship in to a series of manoeuvres designed to break the target lock the ship at established without alerting the Tewkesbury's sensors.

It was a futile attempt and the torpedoes slammed into the frigate all along the port side.

"Damage report!" The Commander demanded.

"Port sub-light thrusters offline, hull breaches in several compartments, major damage to the aft of the ship." Klaus reported, "FTL vectors co-ordinated, ready to jump to light speed at your command sir."

"Very good! Lisa, make it happen."

"We're being hailed sir, do you want me to jump anyway?"

"Negative, I'll take the call here."

"Roger sir." Lisa tapped the controls and a distorted image appeared on the main screen.

"Greetings human, I hope you're enjoying your final moments?"

The voice was deep, with a scratching quality to it.

"I demand to know who dares to attack and alliance war vessel!" The Commander shouted.

"Foolish human, if I wanted you to know I wouldn't be scrambling my image. However, that doesn't stop me thinking I ought to know who it is I'm about to annihilate..."

"I am Commander Adam Davies of the SSV Tewkesbury, and I demand that you cease your attack and inhibition of our communications systems."

"Why is it," the captain of the other vessel began, almost thoughtfully, "that humans in command of a vessel which is utterly defeated, always try to regain their situation by making demands they are in no way able to enforce?"

This left everyone on the bridge somewhat at a loss for what to say.

"It is inconsequential," the scrambled image said, "although intriguing nonetheless. Well human I'm glad you afforded me this opportunity for small talk, but it really must come to an end. Goodbye, Commander Davies, and make peace with whatever heathen god you worship."

The calm, casual manner of the captain's speech belied the malicious actions which were to follow his words. The front of the strange vessel aligned its bow with the midsection of the Tewkesbury and unleashed another of the devastating rounds from its main gun. The Tewkesbury was immediately rent asunder, the stern spinning off from the bow, and falling out of orbit, towards the pressure cooker below.

The bow was more fortunate. Most of the crew were towards the midship were killed instantly but others were alive to hear the Commander's order to abandon ship, shortly before the alien craft unleashed its third and final mass accelerated slug, blasting the entire bow apart.

Debris floated freely in the surrounding space, the momentum it gained from the blast not dissipating due to the zero-atmosphere environment.